Episode Archives

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Doug Gordon heads off to host and produce "Beta" on WPR Next.

TTBOOK staffers share some of our favorite interviews and shows produced by our favorite Canadian. Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Christopher Hogwood was not your ordinary household pet. For one thing, he weighed 700 pounds. And he loved to drink beer. Christopher was a very large pig with a heart of gold. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the story of how Christopher Hogwood became the best-loved pig in...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Eric Liu is on a campaign to restore America's civic joy. To make voting fun again, with late-night dance parties for Miami voters, participatory election street theater in Akron,Ohio; and a giant election scavenger hunt in Philadelphia. He says there's no such thing as not voting: choosing not...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It started as a joke.  Danny Wallace put a small ad in a London newspaper.  It simply said “Join me” and invited people to send a passport-sized photo.  The only problem was, no one knew what they were joining.  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, the story of Danny Wallace’s “Join Me”...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Did you know that Teddy Roosevelt was one of nine U.S. presidents who had hooks for hands? Well, that's just one of countless facts included in John Hodgman's new almanac. But, as it turns out, all of these facts are fake. In this hour of the Peabody Award-winning To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It used to be that comics were just for kids.   Today, we call them "graphic novels," and they're one of the fastest growing forms of American literature. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, how graphic art grew up...with Will Eisner's biographer, Jules Feiffer, Dennis Kitchen, and...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

If you think about it, every day we receive countless services from complete strangers — the newspaper delivered to your door, the trash picked up at the crack of dawn, the fresh fruit for sale at the supermarket. There's a whole army of invisible workers powering our economy who we rarely get...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In the history of near-fame experiences, one story stands out.  Pete Best was the Beatles’ drummer just a few months before “Love Me Do” became a smash hit.  His replacement, Ringo Starr, became a huge star.  And Pete Best?  He worked for decades as a civil servant in Liverpool.  In this hour of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Do you believe in social progress and the power of networks to solve problems?  Steven Johnson does.  And he's coined a new term for himself and others like  him -- the peer progressive movement.   We'll learn all about it as we explore how digital networks are changing our lives.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Kayfabe is an old carny term for fakery. Now it’s the code of honor for professional wrestling. Kayfabe means you never, EVER admit to ANYONE under ANY circumstances that pro wrestling’s fake. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge - the spectacle of professional wrestling. We’ll talk real...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but you still need a word to describe that glorious smell. We'll try out new words from the online world with a New York Times language blogger - words like YakkaWow and suicide cuisine. Also, the rise of a new world language called Globish....Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Start telling love stories and chances are, you’ll find yourself telling tales of transgression.   In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Joyce Carol Oates talks about the harm done by family secrets.  P.D. James muses on why women are so good at crime fiction.  A...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are you a knave? Scalawag?  A varlet? Are you a scoundrel?  Maybe you’re not but secretly you want to be. Being a scoundrel kind of has a ring to it. It’s romantic. Rebellious.Read more

light streams into a cave

One of the biggest challenges a journalist can face is reporting a story when your connection to your source is compromised. They won't talk, or they can't talk, or it's your own father. Can anyone ever uncover the truth, the whole truth, about another person?Read more

a woman speaks her name

Your name is a collection of sounds and syllables that identify you. It's your tag, handle, label, second skin.  It's written on your birth certificate and it'll be inscribed on your grave.  But what does it actually mean?  Names carry family dreams, expectations and legacies....Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

“We can be bought,” they said,” but we can’t be bored.”  The king and queen of American theater, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne turned down a fantastic sum from the movies  in the middle of the depression to continue to live their illusion on the stage.  In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The pint-sized wizard harry Potter has conquered the book world, and it’s not just kids who love him.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, what’s behind Harry Potter’s popularity.  Also, acclaimed author Katherine Paterson (pronounced Patterson) on the emotional lives of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Some critics call V.S. Naipaul the world’s greatest living writer.  But his harsh views on Islam and the Third World have sparked enormous controversy.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Naipaul talks about his life as a writer.  Also, poetry for the ages: we’ll hear Yeats, Auden and...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

You watch two trench-coated boys walk into their  high school and shoot everyone in sight. Then a demon drags them off to be tortured in Hell. No, it’s not the latest video game.  It’s Hell House, a Halloween haunted house put on by a church in Texas. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

As Hillary Rodham Clinton prepares to give the most important speech of her life, listen back to the speech that marked her entrance into public political life, now available for the first time in its entirety. On May 31st, 1969, Hillary Rodham became the first student to give a commencement...Read more

a cup filled with change

Nearly 20 million households in America are one paycheck away from losing their homes. For many of these families, keeping a roof over their head means having to choose between the rent or dinner that evening. This hour, we explore how housing insecurity drives poverty in America.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Twenty-seven years after it originally aired,Twin Peaks returns for a third season on Showtime on Sunday, May 21st. “Twin Peaks” is considered one of the greatest TV dramas ever made.  It has a huge cult following. Mark Frost created the show, along with film director David Lynch....Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Everything you know about running is wrong. At least, that's the view right now according to some of the latest science in fitness and exercise. Think running is bad for your knees, that prescriptive running shoes tailored to your feet help avoid injury? That stretching is good for you before...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

America's gone craft crazy. Everyone's knitting, or keeping scrapbooks; throwing pots or wood-working. And naturally, there are new chains of stores that carry all the supplies these crafters need, or think they do. To the Best of Our Knowledge considers what we mean by the word "craft." Does it...Read more

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